


Sweater Weather

by Luthor



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Mild Unfaithfulness, University AU, Wicked Maiden, idk idk idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-23
Packaged: 2018-03-16 20:43:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3502139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luthor/pseuds/Luthor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>University AU: When Marian and Zelena meet, it's like pouring water on a pack of Instant Friendship, except:</p><p>Problem #1 Zelena doesn't want to be friends.</p><p>Problem #2 Marian is already in a relationship.</p><p>Problem #3 Zelena's not the only one plotting its demise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know. I have nothing to say. 
> 
> This fic has a Wicked Maiden focus, but Marian/Robin is present at the beginning. WARNING: this fic comes with a little 'cheating' tag - nothing explicit/intentional, but it's going to be there. Outlaw Queen will get their little spotlights here and there, but consider them on a slow burn. Everyone is on a slow burn. I'm burning them all, slowly. 
> 
> I'm writing this when I should be working on my assignments, so don't expect regular updates. Or do, because I can't stop writing it? It's horrible. I have so much work to do. Why can't I stop writing it? (Do not expect regular updates I shouldn't even be writing this. Chapters will be posted as soon as they're complete. Quality will suffer because of this. I'm okay with that, but sorry in advance.)
> 
> (Side note: 'plotting its demise' is a joke there will be none of that.)

Marian hates the cold. She _hates it_.

She stares out of the window from the second floor of the library and glares at the weather. It’s still raining, heavier now than it was three hours ago, when she’d initially planned on leaving. That’s what procrastination gets her, she thinks bitterly, and sinks further into her seat.

The clock in the corner of the computer screen shows her 23:47. She can’t put off the cold any longer.

The library is silent around her. In ten minutes a janitor is set to arrive and shoo everyone out for the night. Marian swivels in her chair, looks left and right, but all she sees is sleeping monitor screens and books.

It’s too late and it’s Friday night _and_ it’s Halloween, and Marian can’t say that she’s surprised that she’s the only student on the entire campus who is still in the library.

Still, it’s a novelty. There are never enough computers on campus, apparently, and she feels guilty now that she realises she’s wasted the last three hours on Facebook instead of doing anything productive. Standing, she pulls on her coat and gloves and turns off the computer she’s been using.

Descending the last set of stairs, she’s already dreading stepping out into the cold. Ahead of her, the automatic door looms. She can hear the wind from here. She grips the belt of her coat and ties it tight around her middle, head down, frowning as she knots and then bows it, and then—

“ _shit_ —”

–she walks straight into a wall. A soft wall. A soft, warm wall.

“What the fuck—can you watch where you’re—” the soft, warm (British?) wall starts to say, and then she sees Marian, and she’s not a wall at all. She’s a wide-eyed, stammering red head with eyeliner whiskers coming from her nose.

Marian stares.

“Sorry,” she says quickly, and the red head blushes, shakes her head.

“It’s fine, I wasn’t really paying attention.” She brushes a hand through her hair, but the ridiculous curls fall forward almost as soon as she’s done tucking them behind her ear.  Marian’s eyes lift to the two black cat ears on top of her head. “Hey, you’re on my course, right?”

“What?”

“Marian, isn’t it?”

“Uh, yeah.”

The red head grins and offers, “Zelena,” and Marian’s eyes flash with recognition.

“ _Zelena_.”

For a second, Marian think she’s offended her, but Zelena’s grin only grows. Then she tips her head back and lets out the dirtiest laugh Marian’s ever heard, and right then she knows that they’re going to be friends.

“Sorry, I—I recognised your name.”

“Mhm,” Zelena says, like she doesn’t exactly believe her, but also doesn’t exactly give a shit, either. “Getting your assignment in?”

“Sure,” Marian nods, and then realises that she needs to sound more convincing than that if she doesn’t want to admit that she handed the assignment in three hours ago. “Yeah, I mean, how do you think you’ve done?”

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and listens as Zelena rambles about everything from the word limit to the course itself, nodding her head and making noises of agreement even though, actually, she doesn’t agree with her at all. She’s worried she’ll be asked to provide her own list of complaints, but then Zelena catches sight of the janitor across the room and clamps her mouth shut.

“Looks like we’re getting thrown out,” Marian says, following her gaze.

“You heading home?”

“Yeah.” Marian eyes her dubiously. “You?”

“Nah, Halloween party.” She opens her coat, flashing Marian pleather trousers and a plunging neckline. And, wow, that is a mental image she’ll never shake. She doesn’t know if she’s entirely pleased about that or not. “You’re not celebrating?”

Marian shakes her head. For some reason, she feels her cheeks getting warm.

“Movie marathon tomorrow,” she offers.

Zelena _ahhs_ and tips her head towards the door. Marian obliges, follows her out, and pulls a hat out of an oversized coat pocket. It’s a struggle to get it on in time, before the wind captures her hair and she’s momentarily blinded. She waits in the shelter of the library’s entrance until Zelena manages to wrestle her hood over her cat ears.

“Which way are you walking?” Zelena asks, and something warms up in Marian’s belly despite the weather.

“Left?”

“Me too.”

They’re both grinning, and Marian lets out a little laugh that she hopes the sound of the rain steals away before Zelena catches it. She doesn’t understand why she feels bashful around her, but she doesn’t appreciate it.

_Probably because I almost knocked her over_ , is what she settles on, which is easier than overanalysing the way her chest flushes when Zelena wiggles her nose and the little black whiskers shift with it.

They fall into step beside each other, heads tilted down against the wind and rain. Marian watches the turn off to her accommodation building grow closer, and is surprised by the way she starts to dread it. She slows her pace down as much as she can get away with, which is stupid, because the rain is lashing down and she’s already shaking with the cold, but Zelena matches her pace regardless.

For a second, she contemplates purposefully missing the first turn off and walking the long way home. It’s such a ridiculous idea that it makes her stop dead in her tracks, and Zelena, noticing, stops with her. She jerks a hand out to the left and says to Zelena’s concerned expression, “I’m this way.”

“Oh.” She says it with as much disappointment as Marian feels – or is she projecting? “I’m heading right here.”

Marian nods her head. _Of course she is_.

“Enjoy the party,” she tells her, and Zelena looks like she wants to say something. She looks like she wants to invite her. She’s definitely not going to invite her. (Marian almost wishes she would.)

“Enjoy your films,” is what she settles on, her toothy grin closing into a sincere smile. “I’ll see you on Monday?”

“You will.”

Her grin returns, white teeth peeking out between red lips.

“Good.”

Marian feels her cheeks aching from grinning so hard. She’s almost glad when Zelena turns around and can’t see how long her smile lasts.

A wave of anticipation suddenly fills her for Monday morning.

It’s not that she’s so starved of human interaction that one conversation can leave her smitten – it’s really not that. She can’t explain it. It’s like seeing someone for the first time and knowing they’re going to be important to you. If Marian believed in any of that pre-destined bullshit, maybe she’d use that excuse.

Whatever the reason, she’ll see Zelena again, she’s sure of it. She carries the warmth of their meeting with her until she’s back in her bedroom, tucked into bed and grinning (but that’s okay, she thinks, because no one can see her here in the dark).


	2. Chapter 2

Monday morning comes, and Marian turns up to her class with a venti sized coffee and wide, bright eyes. She scans the room. No Zelena. But it’s early, and she can’t expect Zelena to be as excited to see her as Marian is, or to even remember her, or, Marian thinks, her stomach sinking, to even _want_ to acknowledge her existence.

She takes a large sip of coffee and burns her tongue.

 _Enough of that_ , she thinks, but it does the trick – scolds her nerves back into their shells.

Before she can spare another thought on her anxiety, somebody takes the seat beside her. She turns to tell them that she’s saving it, when she realises that it’s Zelena.

“You weren’t holding this seat, were you?” Zelena asks, already unpacking her bag like whatever answer Marian gives doesn’t really matter.

“Yes – I mean, no—” _what the fuck_ , “I mean, I was holding it for you.”

Zelena looks up from where she’s bent into her bag, digging around for a pen, and grins. She sets her pen down once she’s found it and pulls her chair under the desk, and perhaps just an inch closer to Marian’s. If Marian notices that it’s not an accident, she says nothing.

“Thanks. What are you drinking?”

“Vanilla latte,” she says, and stares, mouth-open, when Zelena slips the takeout cup right out of her hand and takes a drink.

What – are they best friends already?

Zelena takes two large mouthfuls and then pushes the drink back into Marian’s hand like she hasn’t done a thing. Marian stares down at her drink. There’s a bright red lipstick mark around the opening in the lid, and Marian can’t tell if she wants to wrap her mouth around it or throw it out.

“Uh…”

 “I can’t believe _she’s_ our midwifery tutor,” Zelena quietly exclaims, wiggling in her seat to get comfortable.

Still holding her coffee cup up, Marian follows her gaze to the stern looking woman at the front of the room.

“Let’s hope she’s not a complete Trunchbull,” Zelena says, leaning in close enough for Marian to become momentarily intoxicated by her perfume, “this is the only part of our course that I actually care about.”

Smirking, Marian nods her head and lies through her teeth, “Same here.”

 

The seminar ends minutes early, and so Marian doesn’t feel so bad when she takes twice as long to pack her things away. Beside her, Zelena pulls on her jacket and smiles when she catches Marian’s gaze. They leave together, and Marian half expects them to stay together for lunch, too, until she remembers that she already has plans.

Once she’s outside of the room, Marian slows down and Zelena stops with her. Her expression is expectant.

“I promised Robin I’d wait for him,” Marian tells her, looking apologetic. “You can go on, if you want.”

Zelena ignores that last part. _As if she would_. She smiles a little wider than the sinking feeling in her stomach is telling her she has any right to.

“Robin?”

“My boyfriend,” Marian says, smiling like she hasn’t just plunged something sharp and cold directly into Zelena’s chest.

 _Boyfriend_.

But that’s fine. It’s fine. They can still be friends, can’t they? (Of course they can, Zelena tells herself. _Of course we can_ , Zelena tells her face.)

Zelena opens her mouth to ask what he studies. What comes out instead is, “Is it serious?”

Marian’s smirks as though to ask _what kind of question is that?_  Zelena thinks she’s going to throw up. Marian is saved from having to answer when a large arm finds her waist and tugs her body away from Zelena and flush against a broad chest.

 Zelena stares at him.

He looks athletic, outdoorsy, and completely in love – and did she just catch an English accent? She clenches her fists by her sides and then reminds herself that this isn’t a competition. That, even if it was, she can tell who Marian would choose already.

Bitterness wires her jaw shut tight; Robin actually flinches when she smiles at him.

“Robin, this is Zelena,” Marian says, blissfully unaware. “Zelena, Robin.”

“Nice to meet you,” Robin says, and he actually looks like he might mean it, too. Zelena hates him already.

“Pleasure.” She turns to Marian. “I have to go.”

Her departure comes so quickly that Marian’s face actually falls. Zelena hesitates, staring between the two of them, her hand coming up to clasp tightly around the strap of her bag. They can still be friends. She stills wants them to be friends. It’s not like there was any promise that they’d be anything more than, anyway…

“I have to meet my sister,” she says, the lie coming easily. “But… I’ll see you in class tomorrow?”

Marian nods her head. With that, Zelena manages that strange, tight smile again and leaves. Marian stares after her, missing the look on Robin’s face that’s saying something about that departure was definitely weird.

“New friend?” he asks, and Marian hums, distracted.

 

For her part, Zelena does seek out her sister.

She rings her phone on the way to the first years’ accommodation blocks, but it goes straight to voicemail. Regina’s probably studying, she imagines, but she takes a chance on catching her in her room anyway. She hadn’t lied completely to Marian; there _is_ something that she wants to speak to her about.

At the door to the building, an unknown face answers Zelena’s loud knocking.

“I’m looking for Regina Mills,” she says, and when instant admission isn’t given: “I’m her sister.”

She says it with enough force that the boy actually pales a little. Oh, good, he does know Regina then. She steps past him with a shark-like smile, and counts the doors down to Room 108. The door is unlocked when she arrives, and so Zelena lets herself in.

She finds Regina at her desk with her forehead resting on top of her closed laptop. For a second, she sympathises with her. The moment passes. Grinning, she pulls the wheely chair back from the desk and Regina jolts awake, groaning.

“Budge up, little monkey.”

When Regina doesn’t oblige, Zelena slips a leg behind her, and then the rest of her body, until Regina is pressed flush to her chest and Zelena can push her off the chair altogether. Regina stumbles, but is saved by the desk. She turns to Zelena with a look in her eyes that’s as disgusted as it is impressed.

“How did you get in?” she asks, eyes narrowing. “And what do you want?”

She pushes the swivel chair away, and Zelena glides back with an offended hand to her chest.

“Only your time, Regina – your love.”

Regina twists around on her way to her mini-fridge, expression deadpan.

“Your wifi?”

“More like it.”

Zelena opens the laptop and wrongly guesses Regina’s password twice.

“Listen, are you going home this weekend?”

“No, why?”

Zelena gives up on the password and swivels around in the chair, watching as Regina pulls a can of soda from the fridge.

“I want to go shopping.”

“Good for you.”

“Don’t be bitter.” She rolls her eyes. “I want to go shopping _with you_.”

Regina pops the can open and freezes with it halfway towards her mouth. She arches an eyebrow and Zelena struggles against rolling her eyes again. Honestly, anyone would think they hated each other with the show that her baby sis could put on.

“You want to go shopping with me.” She says it like she might say _you want me to help you bury a body_ , and comes to lean against the desk, facing her sister once she’s set her can of soda down out of Zelena’s reach. “Why?”

“We don’t spend enough time together.”

Regina’s frown doesn’t waver.

“And… I hate public transportation.”

“Right. And you giving up your car was a good idea, because…?”

“It _is_ a good idea, I’m lowering my carbon—Jesus, okay, that’s not the point. I just thought we could do sister things, but if that’s too much of a—”

Regina interrupts her before she can actually make her feel guilty. Because, gees, can’t Zelena take a joke anymore? She groans loudly and frowns in a way that tells Zelena she’s being stupid (Zelena is very familiar with this kind of frown, and her face instantly lights up).

“You’re no fun since you went green.”

“That kind of attitude won’t save the planet, Regina.”

“Whatever.”

“So you’re coming, then? Because I need a ride and you don’t have plans…”

“Who said I don’t have plans?”

Zelena deadpans her.

“Okay, I have no plans. Who said I want to spend my weekend chauffeuring you around town?”

“Look deep into your bosom, Regina. If you hold any sisterly love for me you’ll say yes.”

“Uh,” Regina chokes, “don’t say that word again.”

Zelena’s face lights up.

“So are we shopping?” she asks, and she looks so excited that Regina thinks she’ll have to do something drastic to get out of this. “Come on, little monkey, it’ll be fun. Please. _Please?_ ”

“Fine,” Regina groans. “Stop calling me that.”

Zelena pulls the chair in towards the desk and pats her lap until Regina just sighs and gives in. She takes a seat on Zelena’s thighs and digs her butt bones in until Zelena yelps and punches her in the arm. Smirking, she puts her password in.

“ _Thank you_ ,” Zelena exaggerates, batting Regina’s hands out of the way. “Now look at this… What do you think?”

She types in the web address of a local clothing store and finds the dress she’s been eyeing since the beginning of the semester.

“Oh, _God_ , no,” Regina says instantly, and Zelena almost opens her legs and drops her right onto the floor.

“Shut up. What’s wrong with it?”

“Red’s my colour.”

“Mm, no. You’re wrong. That’s me,” Zelena protests, and Regina firms her lips, conceding that she’ll never win this argument. She hears a short huff near her ear and then Zelena changes the red to black. “What about this, then?”

“Better,” Regina agrees, but with a waver in her voice that makes Zelena’s jaw tighten.

“What – black’s your colour, too?”

“I’m just saying…”

“Save it. You can tell me on Saturday.”

She stands up without warning, and for the second time that day Regina’s desk is the only thing keeping her from hitting the floor. She glares at Zelena, rubbing at the hip that had taken the brunt of her stumble.

“Be up early, okay? I want to get home before lunch.”

“Yes, sir!”

Zelena stops at the door, poking her tongue out.

“Stop frowning, little monkey, you’ll give yourself age lines.”

She closes the door to a yelled, “get a bike!” and grins all the way home.

 


	3. Chapter 3

They shop, and, okay, it’s not _as_ awful as Regina is making it out to be.

Finally, Zelena stops them in the middle of an underwear aisle. She places both hands on Regina’s cheeks and gently smushes them together, silencing her. “If you behave,” she tells her very carefully, “I’ll buy you a bag of sweets once we’re done.”

Regina bats her away, lip curling.

“I’m not a five year old.”

“Then stop acting like one.”

Regina huffs and Zelena rolls her eyes and they set off again, because Zelena while shopping is _relentless_. She traces a hand along a rack of black lace bras, looking for her size, and Regina tries not to openly glare when she picks the right one out.

“I thought you only came out for that dress?”

“We’re _shopping_ ,” Zelena says, as though that’s explanation enough. “Don’t you want anything?”

“On my budget?” Regina huffs, and Zelena pats her butt with the bra in her hand as she walks past.

“I’m sure Cora would be happy to help,” she says, and Regina’s glare hardens.

“I don’t need to sponge off my mother to survive.”

“Mm, right.” Like she believes that. “Not such a stupid idea, me giving up driving, is it?”

She looks so smug that Regina waits until she’s turned her back to silently mimic her, pulling a face.

 

They make it into the clothes store next door, and still Zelena hasn’t found her dress. Regina is about to accuse her of using the dress as a ruse when something very strange happens.

Just ahead of her, Zelena stops dead.

Regina walks straight into her back as a result, but Zelena only stumbles forward in a daze. She’s having the strongest sense of tunnel vision that she’s ever experienced. She’s vaguely aware of an annoyed voice behind her, but not even Regina’s shove to her shoulder snaps her out of it.

It’s only when Marian meets her gaze that Zelena can blink again. Electricity strikes down her chest as if someone is playing her ribs like a xylophone. She breaks into a wide grin and makes her way over.

“Hi,” she breathes.

Marian looks just as breathless, grinning back, “Hi.”

“Lena?”

Zelena turns her head to the side, her lips parting like she’s surprised to see Regina just behind her. She almost asks _are you following me?_ and then remembers. Shopping trip. Regina. Little black dress. She nods her head determinedly and Regina frowns.

“Regina, this is Marian.” Regina waves awkwardly. “Marian, this is my sister.”

There’s another _hi_ , more certain of itself this time.

“Are you here alone?” Zelena asks, already envisioning a lunch date. Maybe she could send Regina home without her, if Marian’s driving.

Marian puts a hole in her plan when she shakes her head.

“Robin’s here,” she says, looking around and gesturing ‘here’ with a hand. Zelena doesn’t follow her gaze. “Somewhere around here. I think.” She turns back to Zelena with a smile. “You’re shopping?”

“For a dress,” Zelena says. “I mean, I know which dress, but coming with a goal in mind kind of takes the fun out of browsing.”

Behind her, Regina coughs.

“What are you here for?”

“Just looking around,” Marian says, and then her face lights up. Something in Zelena’s chest flickers, until she realises that Marian has just spotted Robin and is waving him over. “Hey, look who I found.”

Robin appears, all smiles, a scarf in the hand that he doesn’t wave with.

“We aren’t staying out long,” Marian says as she looks the scarf over, wincing. “Robin has a lit paper due in tomorrow.”

She looks mock-apologetically up at Robin.

“You take lit?” Regina suddenly pipes up.

Zelena shoots her a look, and _oh, yeah_ , she is out shopping with her baby sister, isn’t she?

“And language,” Robin offers, and a light flickers on behind Regina’s eyes. “You take it?”

“I—I mean, I take one lit module, but I want to take more next year.” She tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear and blinks up at him. “What’s the course like?”

Seeing them, Zelena spots a prime opportunity. She rolls her eyes at the pair and links an arm through Marian’s, tugging the other woman towards her.

“Let’s leave them to talk books,” she suggests, “I want your opinion on something.”

Marian blinks and looks back to Robin to make sure he’s alright. (Zelena almost laughs.) When he nods, she turns back and agrees, “Okay.”

Zelena grins at Regina’s stank eye, because seriously, she makes her come all the way out here and then ditches her with a complete stranger? Regina takes another look at him, and, well, _fine_. But she’s still pissed.

“Go on,” Zelena urges, batting Regina towards Robin, “go and bond over _Harry Potter_.”

Regina stares after her, loose-jawed. She’s vaguely aware of a tall presence stepping into line beside her.

“Your sister’s a piece of work,” Robin says without malice.

(And okay, _okay_ she gets it, the stranger her sister left her stranded with is actually perfect. She’s _still_ pissed.)

“Yes, she is.”

 

“So,” Marian says, waiting on the opposite side of a curtain, “you’re English.”

She winces almost as soon as she says it, and casts a quick glance around the near-empty changing rooms to make sure that no one else overheard her. She hears a faint chuckle come from behind the curtain, nothing like the filthy cackle that had drawn her in at Halloween, but enough to put a bit of pink in her cheeks.

 “Don’t hold it against me, darling.”

“No, I mean,” Marian shakes her head, “you and Regina..?”

“Ah, yes.”

The curtain pulls back and Zelena reveals herself. The dress is far too short for this weather and Marian feels a shiver coming on just looking at it. It’s velvety black against Zelena’s pale skin, and the green pendant at its collar sets off her eyes. Marian gets chest palpitations just looking at her.

“I grew up in England,” Zelena explains, stepping up to the wall-length mirror opposite the changing stalls and admiring herself. “We’re half-sisters, really. Different dads.”

“That would explain your surnames.”

“Hm?”

“Zelena West, Regina Mills.” She’s definitely blushing, now. Sweating, even. Maybe she has a fever. Her eyes zone in on the open zipper at the back of Zelena’s neck and it feels like someone has just thrown her a lifeline (or an oxygen mask). “Here, let me fasten that.”

“Oh…” Zelena holds her breath, her hands coming up to move her hair out of the way, but Marian does it for her. Her touch is light and warm against the back of her neck and Zelena suppresses a shudder. “Thank you.”

Marian meets her gaze in the mirror and grins.

“It looks good,” she says, trying not to stare.

“Then maybe I’ll just buy this, instead.”

 

They end up staying for lunch, anyway, all four of them crammed around a table barely large enough for two. Marian eats with her sandwich on her knees and looks up, amused, as she listens to Robin reel off his reading list to a captivated Regina.

“I don’t know why you’re bothering,” Zelena trills. “When was the last time you were able to read for fun?”

“I’ll make time.”

“That’s _adorable_.”

Regina glares at her.

“Anyway,” Robin clears his throat, dusting crumbs off his jeans, “I should be heading back. I’ve got work to do.”

Marian makes a noise that means _wait there_ as she hurries to chew what’s in her mouth.

“Stay if you like,” he tells her. “Unless you want a ride home?”

“Regina’s driving,” Zelena offers, “we can drop you off on the way.”

Marian quickly swallows, looking between the two sisters.

“Are you sure?” she asks Regina.

“Positive,” Zelena grins back.

“I’ll speak to you later,” Robin says, ducking down for a BLT flavoured kiss. He waves to the others. “Have fun.”

“Good luck,” Marian calls after him.

Regina stares after him, looking more than a little miserable.

“But he wasn’t done telling me about the works in translation…”

 

When it comes to leaving, Zelena bundles herself in the back of the car with Marian.

“So she doesn’t feel left out,” she tells Regina when she throws her _a look_ , and Marian just grins and lets herself get pulled into a conversation that she’s finding it near impossible to focus on. Zelena sits too close and talks too much, and if Marian hadn’t watched him prepare it she’d think that their barista had put a little something extra in her coffee. She tries to follow what Zelena’s saying, but that turns into simply staring at her mouth, and _that_ doesn’t help at all.

She’s definitely getting sick.

“Which side of campus do you live on?” Regina asks from the front, and Marian can finally focus on something other than Zelena. “I’ll drop you off as close as I can get.”

Marian directs her until Regina pulls up just off the footpath that leads onto campus.

“Thanks for the ride,” she tells her.

Being closest to the sidewalk, Zelena gets out first, holding the car door open for Marian. She closes it behind her again, putting a wall between what she’s saying and what Regina can hear, as though there’s a secret to be kept. Finally, Zelena wraps her arms around Marian and squeezes her goodbye.

Regina watches them with a stupid smirk on her face. Her sister looks _so_ _gay_ for Marian, she thinks. And then— _wait_.

 

“So,” she says once Zelena takes the seat beside her, “you’ve only known Marian a little while, right?”

“About a week. Why?”

“No, no reason. You just… I mean, you get along _well_ , to say you’ve only known her a week.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes you just click with somebody.”

_And that’s what happened_ , Regina wants to ask, _you **clicked** , did you?_ She turns briefly to Zelena and narrows her eyes.

“Right.”

There’s something about Regina’s tone that makes Zelena sit back against the seat and sigh. She turns to her sister with an expectant expression.

“What?”

Regina eyes her again.

“I just mean, it happened _fast_. You’re acting like she’s your best friend already.”

Zelena huffs.

“Regina, we have the same Starbucks order, for Christ’s sake. We’re practically soulmates.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

“It’s nothing big,” Marian is saying, “just a small get-together, really. A few of Robin’s friends will be there. They’re nice enough, but they’re not…” she shrugs, “my kind of people. I didn’t want to be stuck on my own all night.” She tries to make a joke of it, realises how it sounds, and blinks. “But if you don’t want to—”

“No, what are you talking about? Of course I want to,” Zelena says back, slotting her phone between her ear and her shoulder. Hands free, she holds a cream blouse to her chest and turns to one side. “What time?”

“People will be arriving at about eight thirty.”

“Wicked.”

“Do you know his address?” Marian asks, like she really isn’t sure.

“I think so.” The blouse is bright enough to give her skin some colour, but light enough that it doesn’t clash with her hair. Satisfied, Zelena takes her phone back into her hand and wrestles her arms through the sleeves. It’s a short while before she speaks again. “Text it to me?”

“I’m on it.”

Her phone buzzes against her ear while she’s fastening the last two buttons. She leaves the top one and the one just below it undone, and flicks at the collar with her fingers. _All of this_ , she thinks, _wasted… completely wasted._

“So who’s going to be there?” she asks, coming to sit on her bed. “Robin and his gang of merry lit students?”

“Basically.” Marian sounds just as enthused as she feels. “They’re not all lit students, though. Some do sports…”

“How droll.”

“Just—don’t bring up darts or archery or anything that includes throwing sharp objects at targets.”

“Uh…”

“They’re competitive.” There’s a story there, Zelena thinks, but she isn’t entirely sure if she wants to hear it. “I’ll see you at half eight, yeah?”

Zelena grins to herself and promises, “You’ll see me.”

 

And damnit, does Marian _see her_.

“I think your friend’s here,” Robin says beside her, unaware of the look on his girlfriend’s face. He has to lean in close to be heard. Marian holds her breath against the smell of beer coming off him. “Selina?”

“ _Ze_ lena.” Marian blinks her eyes, twice. “I’ll let her in.”

Marian gets to the door before Zelena does, and opens it in time to see her teeter down the path in heels that she has no sense in wearing. Except they add the impression of an extra foot to her height, and maybe make her legs look absolutely fucking endless. Whatever. Marian isn’t staring.

“Hi!”

She’s pulled into a tight hug, and Marian can’t help but squeeze her back.

Zelena hugs with complete confidence, like she’s sure no one could possibly _not_ want to be in her arms. Maybe it’s because she’s always wearing good perfume, or because she does that little back rub before she pulls away that makes you feel like you’ve just achieved something. Maybe she’s just incredibly comfortable with invading other people’s personal spaces.

Either way, Marian isn’t complaining.

They pull back and Zelena’s heels have her standing almost a head above Marian. She looks down at her, appraising her outfit, and grins. Marian’s wearing a deep burgundy dress that makes her dark skin look almost gold in comparison. Robin never much appreciated this one, but something about the red in it had made her think of Zelena.

“You look really great,” Marian manages.

_You look like a fucking goddess_ , Zelena thinks.

“Let’s go inside, it’s freezing.”

Inside, it’s much louder. If not for the added warmth, Marian might actually regret coming in. She leads Zelena through to the kitchen. There are more people here than she’d been expecting, and when she asks Marian about it, she’s sent a look that tells her Marian is just as surprised.

“Thanks,” Zelena says when she’s handed a drink, and she takes a look around. The kitchen is smaller than her own and empty but for her and Marian. There’s alcohol and discarded chip packets lining every available surface. In the next room, a glass smashes, followed by the sound of deep, cheering voices. “Some party…”

Marian throws her a look. Zelena isn’t sure which it says louder, _be nice,_ or _get me out of here_. She bumps their hips together and Zelena’s smile brightens.

“Just a few more hours, and then it won’t be rude if we sneak out,” Marian jokes, and Zelena grants her that deep, dirty cackle.

In the other room, Gwen Stefani comes on the speakers and Zelena grabs Marian’s hand and pulls her into the thick of the dancing. After that, not even a few smashed glasses can ruin Marian’s night.

 

Near the end of the night, they end up in Robin’s bedroom.

Music thuds up through the standard dark blue carpet and Zelena lies back on the bed and sighs. It’s maybe two thirty and they’ve already consumed, between them, enough alcohol for them to forget that they’re at university altogether.

(A necessary amount, both would agree.)

“Sit down,” Zelena groans, curling onto her side and watching as Marian struggles to unfasten the buckle in her heels while still standing.

She wobbles twice, falls against a shelving unit, and pouts. Zelena laughs too loud and hides her face until she feels a dip in the bed. When she looks up, Marian is there, looking triumphant as she pulls off her first heel. The second follows soon after, and then Marian twists around and folds her legs up beside her on the bed.

“You’re tired,” she says.

 “I’m just a little dizzy.”

“Do you want some water?” Zelena shakes her head. “A blanket?”

“I’m fine,” Zelena laughs. “Stop trying to nurse me.”

Marian pulls a face, but can’t help her smile.

“Sorry,” she says, like she isn’t at all, “force of habit.”

“It’s very fitting, considering.”

Marian hums and curls up in the space beside her, ‘resting her eyes’. She folds her hands up near her chest and fiddles with the necklace she’s wearing, twisting it around one finger and then unravelling it again.

“I should go home,” Zelena mumbles, watching her.

“What?” Marian’s eyes open quickly. She turns towards Zelena and frowns. “It’s too late, and you’re drunk. Stay here.”

Zelena just blinks back, smiling like she’s about to fall asleep at any second. Marian is burning up like a small sun, and Zelena can feel the heat coming off her in waves. They’re too close. Zelena curls her knees up and they knock against Marian’s, making both of them laugh.

It would be so easy, Zelena thinks, to lean across and kiss her.

The moment she has the thought, she’s consumed with it.

The laughter quiets, leaving them staring across at each other in the kind of silence that usually means something big is about to happen. Zelena holds her breath. She watches Marian’s long, dark lashes flutter and something skips and shudders inside her chest. Marian’s gaze falls. Even this far from sober, Zelena knows where her eyes are trained. She licks her lips. She’s going to lean in, she thinks. She’ll do it. She’s going to kiss Marian. She releases her breath, steels her nerves, and—

Robin.

She remembers Robin.

More specifically, she remembers the look on Marian’s face whenever he’s around, and a strange thing happens. Zelena has a premonition of the damage she could cause, and it terrifies her. She wouldn’t ruin Marian’s happiness for anything, she realises, not even a kiss. No matter how much she wants it.

She curls her knees away from Marian’s, putting space between them. Creating a barrier.

“I don’t have my toothbrush,” she whispers.

Marian closes her eyes. There’s a hue to her cheeks that could be from either the alcohol or the knowledge of what almost happened between them. Of what, for a second, maybe longer, she had _wanted_ to happen between them.

“That’s fine,” she whispers back, “just borrow mine.”


End file.
